Dates With Destiny
by Proforce
Summary: Story 8! With the excitement over Ash's victory still settling, he remembers he has a promise to keep. Actually, make that two: a date for both Penny and Misty. Will this help him figure out where his heart is, or just confuse things even more?


"Dates With Destiny"  
Author: Robert Brown

Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Nintendo,  
Game Freak, and/or 4 Kids Inc. (except where noted, in which case  
they were created and copyrighted by me or by another and I have  
permission to use them). The author hereby gives permission for  
this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as  
long as (1) no changes to the story are made without my express  
written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to  
profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it  
will be considered a violation of copyright law.

Author's Note: Well, here we are again everyone. Another story is on its way.  
I got some bad feedback about the last story that made me seriously consider  
abandoning these stories. I was told that Penny (Pikachu) is nothing but a  
Mary Sue clone of Misty who has no business being in the stories, that I have  
no idea how real pokémon battling works, and that I give pokémon moves they  
don't learn. Oh, and I was also told that I am violating the TOS on  
by posting all my stories separately and not as chapters.

Now, I have settled things with this reviewer, but I want to  
express myself for anyone else who thinks that these points are true. First  
of all, Penny is not a Mary Sue. Anyone who's read all my stories would know  
what she's gone through to be what she is, and how she was able to capture  
Articuno. Second, she may seem to be a clone of Misty, but that's only  
because Misty's the only female human she's close to. Of course she's going  
to act like her until she finds her own way, which starts this story. Third,  
I've won many contests for my battling, and I've watched the animé many times  
to get a good feel for battles. Fourth, growlithes can be TMed to know  
Dragon Rage. And if you don't want to accept that, look at the episodes  
where Ash battled in the Indigo League tournament. On the ice field, his  
kingler fought an arcanine that knew Dragon Rage. And finally, I am not in  
violation of the TOS. Each of my stories are self-contained; think of them  
as books in a series instead of chapters in a book. Therefore, they can be  
listed separately. And yes, I confirmed this with Xing when he first  
instituted the chapter system. If anyone else has anything to comment on, you  
know where to reach me. Oh yeah, one other thing. I'm not now nor will I  
ever stop these stories. If anything, these comments have galvanized me into  
finishing, no matter what may come. Till next time, Happy Reading!

Oh, quick note, thank all that is holy that the rumors were  
false. No Misty and Tracy!

#8

It was now the morning after Ash had won his volcano badge, but what a  
night it had been. As soon as he, Misty, and Penny had returned to the hotel,  
it had all finally sunk in. "I got a Volcano Badge!" he'd exclaimed, trying  
to hold it up for everyone to see, but nearly ripping it off his jacket by  
mistake.

Brock and Suzie had pressed them for details about the fight, then were  
surprised and shocked to learn that Ash had caught Articuno. Ash had quickly  
set them straight, saying that Penny had been the one to catch her, and had  
then given the legendary bird to him. Brock had been in awe, wanting to see  
the bird he'd only read about but never even hoped to see. Suzie had quickly  
pointed out that that wasn't a good idea inside their penthouse suite, which  
brought about a good laugh from everyone. 

Around that time, Ash had realized he needed to get his pokémon to the  
Pokémon Center to heal them. He'd invited Misty and Penny to go with him, but  
they'd demurred for some reason. Without really worrying about it, Ash had  
gone to the Pokémon Center and, after talking privately with Nurse Joy to make  
sure no one found out about his newest pokémon, had returned to the Flaming  
Flareon hotel with nothing more than a good night's rest on his mind.   
Unfortunately for him, that was the last thing on everyone else's mind. 

No sooner had he re-entered the suite that he found it decorated to  
celebrate his gym victory. When he'd wondered how they'd been able to set it  
up so quickly, Brock and Suzie had admitted that they had gathered everything  
needed to have this party while he was getting his badge, and that Misty and  
Penny had helped them set it up while he was just at the Pokémon Center.  
Though he was really touched by this, he covered it up with his cocky attitude  
by saying how he shouldn't have been surprised since winning the badge was a  
foregone conclusion. All that had earned him was a few playful punches on the  
arm.

Suzie had used the fact that she was still on the convention's payroll  
to order so much room service that even Ash was stuffed. A good time, good  
food, and good friends...Ash couldn't have asked for a better night.

Now, in the early morning hours, Ash found himself sitting on the couch  
with Misty and Penny snuggling into his sides and one arm around each. He had  
to admit, he was very comfortable where he was, but he knew it wouldn't last.   
In fact, it had to end right now according to his bladder.

Once he'd extricated himself from their grasps without waking them and  
answered the call of Nature, he decided to take a walk. The hotel was still  
quiet at this time of the day; the only one he ran into was the manager behind  
the reception desk. "Are you enjoying your stay?" he asked as Ash passed by.

"Huh?" Ash asked, not quite awake enough to comprehend being asked much  
of anything at the moment. 

"I asked if you were enjoying your stay," the manager repeated  
patiently.

"Oh. Yeah, sure," Ash said with a shrug. He started to walk away, but  
then stopped and turned back to the man. "Excuse me, but is there somewhere I  
can go that's not too crowded this time of day?"

"Well, we do have our private hot springs," he said after a moment's  
thought. "It's just been opened up for the day about ten minutes ago. I'd  
say if you want to be alone, that's the place."

"Thanks," Ash said, waving as he walked off. The manager turned back to  
his paperwork but looked up as he heard footsteps approach. "Umm," Ash said,  
rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "where are the hot springs?" The  
manager suppressed a chuckle and pointed to a red door marked "Hot Springs."  
Ash stared at the door, seeing it for the first time, then walked to it and  
through it, muttering to himself.

Once he had taken off his clothes and settled himself in the male half  
of the hot springs, Ash allowed himself to relax and think. No matter how it  
happened, he'd been roped into two dates in the near future. Well, he  
supposed "roped" was too strong of a word. After all, it had been his idea to  
begin with.

Ash sighed and sank down further into the spring until everything under  
his nose was submerged. He'd never been on a date, never even wanted to until  
now. Now he was planning two of them! Even the nervousness of yesterday's  
badge battle paled in comparison to the butterfrees that had taken up  
residence in his stomach. But to be perfectly honest, he was looking forward  
to these dates more than he had the battle.

"What's going on with me?" Ash wondered, blowing a few bubbles through  
the water with his mouth. "When did battling start to take a backseat?"

Ash lifted his left hand up and stared at the scar on it. So many  
things had happened over the past couple weeks. Was it any wonder that he  
wasn't the same boy that had left Pallet Town nearly a year ago? Would his  
mom even recognize him when he returned? 

Ash didn't know how long he sat there, but he knew it was time to get  
out when he started to doze off. After standing and tying a towel around his  
waist, he turned to leave the spring only to find Brock there. "Hey Ash," the  
breeder said, checking to make sure his own towel was secure. "I figured I'd  
find you here when I didn't see you upstairs."

"I was just getting ready to leave," Ash said, turning around until he  
heard Brock settle in the water.

"Why don't you sit down and talk with me?" Brock asked, placing a damp  
towel on his forehead as he relaxed.

"About what?" Ash asked in return, but sat down on a nearby bench  
anyway.

"About whatever's bothering you."

"What makes you think--"

"Why else would you be here and not up there with your girlfriends?"

"They're not my girlfriends," Ash protested quickly.

"Not yet anyway. Or is that your problem?"

"I guess," Ash said, feeling a little uncomfortable talking to Brock  
about this. "I have a date with each of them before we leave Cinnabar."

Brock looked at Ash with a mixture of respect, awe, and jealousy. "You  
have two dates and I only had one?" he asked, tears threatening to flow down  
his cheeks. 

"But that's the problem!" Ash cried loudly, his voice echoing off the  
stones of the spring. "I have no idea what to do on these dates. I know  
Misty said there's no right or wrong way, but I feel like I'm gonna make a  
mess of this and neither one will ever talk to me again!"

"Want a bit of advice?" Brock asked, cutting off Ash's rant.

"I'm desperate for it!"

Brock smiled a bit as he figured out how to word things. "My dad always  
used to tell me one thing when it came to women. 'The greatest thing you can  
give a woman is her own way.'"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you should do what they want to do. Unless there's  
something really specific you want, always ask them for their opinion. Also,  
try not to show any favoritism between them until you make your choice.   
Believe me, they'll love you for it."

"If that's true, then why don't you have a girlfriend yet?"

"Actually, that's not quite true anymore," Brock said with a smile.

Ash stared at Brock in surprise. "You mean...you and Suzie?"

Brock nodded and let his head rest back against the rock. "We talked  
about it last night while you and the others were sleeping. Despite all the  
trouble we had on our date, we really had a good time together. And seeing me  
hurt like that made her realize that she didn't want to lose me before  
figuring out what's between us, if anything. I know this is your journey and  
all," he continued, his voice and expression taking on pleading aspects, "but  
can she please come with us? I promise she won't be any trouble, and I'll  
carry all the extra food we'll need, not to mention--"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down Brock," Ash said with his hands up in front of  
him. "You don't have to beg or anything. She's welcome to come, the more the  
merrier."

"Really!" Brock asked, tears cascading down his cheeks. "I owe you for  
this Ash. I mean, she hasn't actually agreed to come with us yet, but I  
figured I should ask you first."

"No need for that," Ash said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm just happy  
for you. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get dressed." Ash waved to  
Brock as he stood and walked back into the changing room. 

Sitting and talking to Brock had allowed his body to dry so all he  
needed to do was dress. Ash thought about Brock's advice the whole time he  
was in the elevator back up to the penthouse. "I don't have any other ideas,"  
he allowed himself to realize. "I guess it can't hurt to see if it works."

The elevator doors opened and he walked over to the main door of the  
suite. Before he could open the door, it was opened from the other side and  
he found himself face-to-face with Misty. "Hey, where'd you go?" she asked,  
moving aside so he could come inside. 

"I just wanted some air," he said, walking over to the sofa.

"For an hour?" Misty asked, quirking an eyebrow as Penny was awakened  
by Ash throwing himself down on the sofa.

"So I needed a lot of air," Ash said with a shrug.

"What's going on?" Penny asked, straightening herself up and yawning.

"Oh, Ash here just decided he needed about an hour's worth of air,"  
Misty said sarcastically.

"So what's the problem?" Penny asked, raising her arms above her head  
to stretch out a few kinks. "Pikapi usually takes an hour or two at night to  
go off by himself. I lost count of how many times I woke up to find him not  
in his bedroll. When he got back, he'd always say that he just needed some  
air, but I could always sense that he was bothered by something."

"Well then Ash," Misty said, crossing her arms underneath her chest and  
fixing him with her stare, "what's bothering you?"

Ash tried to come up with some excuse, but his mind seemed to be as  
paralyzed as if Misty's glare had been an arbok's. "I was worried about the  
dates we have," he admitted reluctantly, looking away from her. 

Misty's gaze softened slightly. "Did you decide on anything?" she  
asked in a much quieter voice.

Remembering Brock's advice, Ash chose his next words carefully. "I  
couldn't even decide which one of you to take out first. I don't suppose you  
two have a preference, do you?"

"I'd rather go first," Penny said.

"I'd rather go second," Misty said at the same time, then she looked at  
Penny as Penny looked at her.

"Why do you want to go first?" Misty asked, confused.

"I'd rather make the first impression than be compared to you," Penny  
admitted shyly. "Why do you want to go second?"

"I'd rather have the extra day to prepare for it."

"That makes things easy," Ash said, trying to cut off what he felt was  
an impending arguement. "So Penny, I guess we'll go out after breakfast?"  
Penny nodded though she didn't seem quite as sure about it as Ash was. 

Due to Misty keeping Ash from the phone, they actually waited for Brock  
to return from the hot springs and for Suzie to wake up before ordering the  
food. No one really wanted anything heavy after last night's feast; even Ash  
only ate half as much as usual. Penny really took her time though, her nerves  
robbing her of most of her appetite. No one seemed to notice, each wrapped up  
in their own thoughts.

Once breakfast had been finished and cleared, Ash walked over to Penny  
and gently took hold of her hand. Smiling through her blush, she stood up and  
wrapped her fingers loosely around his. "Ready?" Ash asked, shifting his  
weight from foot to foot.

"As ready as I can be," Penny said. As they walked to the door, she  
stumbled slightly, only staying upright because Ash was still holding her  
hand. Embarrassed, she hid her face behind her free hand until she felt Ash  
squeeze the hand he held. Smiling a bit at his encouragement, she briefly  
squeezed back before letting go to walk through the door.

They exited the hotel hand-in-hand and looked around. "So, what do you  
want to do?" Ash asked, looking over at her.

"I don't know," she admitted. "What do you want to do?"

Ash shrugged as an awkward silence descended on them. "Maybe we should  
just look around for something interesting," he eventually said. Penny  
quickly agreed and the two set off to explore the island.

Even though it was still early, the island was already abuzz with people  
determined to make the best of such a beautiful day. Beachgoers were heading  
toward any bare stretch of beach they could find. An early sale at the  
department stores made the inner city packed with bargain hunters. And every  
single street in between was filled with tourists who, like Ash and Penny,  
were looking around and trying to figure out which of the many attractions to  
begin with. 

After about a half hour of wandering around, they happened upon a  
bustling arcade. "Why don't we stop in here?" Ash asked, already holding the  
door open for her.

"Gee, do you want to go in there much?" Penny asked wryly. But, with  
an amused smile, she walked into the arcade with Ash close behind. "Well  
then, what do you want to hit first?"

"I see my target right there," Ash said, pointing to a nearby crane  
machine. "See anything you want?"

Penny looked over the machines, each of them full of small plush pokémon  
or apparel. None of the plushies appealed to her though; she just couldn't  
see herself getting anything like that. And all the clothing seemed to be  
either the wrong size or not to her interest. But then she saw it, the one  
thing in these cranes that she wanted. "That," she said, pointing at it.   
"Win me that."

Ash looked and had to chuckle. Sitting in the farthest corner of the  
machine was an official Pokémon League hat, just like the one that sat on the  
top of his own head. It looked a little battered and misshapen, like many  
people had tried to win it and failed. "Wow, I'm surprised they even have  
one in there," he said, looking at it from a few different sides to make sure  
it was legitimate. 

"So, think you can win it for me?"

"No problem," Ash said, pushing up the sleeves of his jacket. He pulled  
a coin from his pocket and dropped it into the slot. He carefully moved the  
crane's claw into position and pressed the button to make it descend. For a  
long moment, it looked like the claw closed over the material of the cap, but  
when the claw retracted, the cap slipped through its grip and fell back onto  
the other items.

Ash frowned as he deposited another coin. This time he aimed for the  
cap's visor, but he ended with similar results. "This thing is fixed," Ash  
muttered, slipping yet another coin into the machine. By the time he was  
finished, he was out of coins and had barely moved the cap halfway to the  
dropslot. "I'm going to get some more coins," he said, turning away from  
the crane.

While he looked around for an arcade attendant to change some of his  
bills for coins, Penny dug around in the pockets of her shorts. She didn't  
find anything, but then her eye caught a glint on the ground. "Ash must've  
dropped this one," she thought as she picked it up. She glanced over at the  
crane and the hat contained within, flipping the coin in her hand. 

It only took Ash a moment to get the change, but by the time he got back  
it was already too late. He stared in disbelief at the cap in Penny's hands  
as she fiddled with it. "How did you...?"

Penny shrugged, looking down at the cap she held. "I just found a coin  
and figured I'd try my luck," she said. "You're not upset, are you? I mean,  
I could always put it back and let you try again. It's not that--"

Ash took the cap from her hands, interrupting her rambling. He stared  
at it a moment before looking up at her. A smile slowly spread across his  
face as he took the cap and placed it on her head. "I think it looks better  
on you than on me," he said, pulling the bill down a bit over her face.

Penny smiled and laughed as she straightened her new cap. "Don't worry,  
I'll let you win me the next one."

"Let's move on to something else," Ash said, taking her hand and leading  
her deeper into the arcade. They spent the next hour playing various video  
games. Sometimes they would play against each other, with each of them doing  
pretty well against each other. At other times, they would team up to beat a  
game together.

It was just after they'd successfully beaten a game together that they  
noticed a commotion growing on the other side of the arcade. "I wonder what's  
going on over there," Ash said, craning his neck to try and see over the  
growing crowd.

"Let's go see," Penny said, taking Ash's hand and dragging him over to  
the crowd. "What's going on?" she asked the closest boy.

"There's an unstoppable team on that game over there," he said.   
"They've managed to beat everyone they've faced."

"Well they haven't faced us," Ash said, adjusting his gloves. "What do  
you think Pi--Penny?"

"I say we show them how it's done," Penny agreed, starting to push her  
way through the crowd with Ash right behind her. Once they made it through,  
they found a line of couples waiting to try and dethrone the champs. While  
they waited for their turn, they took the chance to study the game being  
played.

It was a game called Pokémon Battle. Each side chose two unevolved  
pokémon and battled it out in a realtime 3-D environment. The winning side  
gained experience and was allowed to continue battling for free while the  
losing side had to put in more coins or make way for someone else. Winning  
enough battles let your pokémon learn different attacks and even evolve if it  
had enough experience and you chose to do so. 

The pair that everyone was clamoring over were a couple in their early  
twenties. The man was fairly tall, at least a head taller than the woman he  
was playing with. Each one had blonde hair and blue eyes, though the man's  
sunglasses tended to cover his unless he looked at you sidelong. They wore  
matching tennis outfits of the brightest white Ash had ever seen. 

"Those two must have been on this game a long time," Penny observed,  
watching as the pair's dragonite and sandslash took out a pair of lapras with  
ease. "Is this really a good idea?"

"Not getting scared on me, are you?" Ash teased.

"Well, maybe a little," Penny admitted. Ash looked at her for a minute,  
surprised by her answer. But before he could say anything about it, they  
reached the front of the line.

"Well well, look who we have here," the man said with a haughty smirk as  
he peeked out over his designer sunglasses that made Ash immediately and  
intensely dislike him. "A couple of brats think they can take us off our  
game."

"Let's shut them down like all the rest," the woman said, a similar  
smirk gracing her perfectly painted lips. "Then we can move on to a better  
pair of challengers."

Ash started to get in their faces, but Penny quickly held him back.   
"Don't let them get in your head," she hissed as she pushed him in front of  
his player station. "If you want to shut them up, do it in the game."

"Fat chance," the woman said with an annoying laugh. "But maybe we'll  
go a little easy on you and your boyfriend."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Penny muttered, choosing a pikachu  
as her pokémon. She noticed with a smile that Ash had chosen one as well.

"Could this be any lamer?" the man asked between laughs. "I don't even  
have to do anything! Your sandslash will make short work of those electric  
rats."

"And it'll be my pleasure dear," the woman said as the battle started.  
But all her bravado disappeared when her sandslash started getting knocked  
around by double quick attacks. "What is the meaning of this?" she growled,  
mashing the buttons in her attempt to escape.

"Keep it up!" Ash said until his pikachu got knocked back by the  
dragonite's razor wind.

"Looks like I underestimated you kids," the man said, keeping his  
dragonite in front of the recovering sandslash. "It won't happen again."

Ash and Penny looked at each other and then quickly guided their  
pikachus to opposite sides of the field. "Which one are you going to come  
after?" Penny asked, keeping her eyes on the screen in front of her.

"I'll take him," the woman sneered. "You take the other one." Ash and  
Penny had a lot less success once it broke up into one-on-one battling. Their  
pikachus were at a large disadvantage to the other pokémon, who were now  
evading the electric attacks with ease.

Ash was trying to use his speed attacks against the woman's sandslash,  
but with her attention completely on him, she had his timing and was meeting  
him with a slash attack each time. "What can I do?" he thought, backing off  
and just playing defense.

"Time to finish this off," the man said, readying an ice beam with his  
dragonite. 

Ash tried not to pay attention to what was happening, until he noticed  
that his opponent was watching the other battle instead of him. "This is my  
chance," he realized. Moving into position quickly, he executed another quick  
attack on the sandslash, sending it flying. It wasn't nearly enough to knock  
it out, but the dragonite's ice beam that the pokémon was knocked into was  
more than enough. 

"What was that?" the woman screamed, watching as the words "Game Over"  
flashed on her screen.

"What?" the man asked, looking over to her screen in disbelief.

That moment of distraction was all Ash and Penny needed. Before the man  
could recover, Ash and Penny both guided their pikachus behind the dragonite  
and launched their thunder waves. Once the dragonite was paralyzed, they  
alternated thundershocks until the dragonite fell, not to get up.

A pin drop could be heard in the arcade as Ash and Penny were declared  
the winners. "Now what were you saying?" Ash asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmmph," the woman said, throwing her long hair over her shoulder with a  
toss off her head. "You're just lucky we have places to go right now."

"Come along," the man said, taking her arm. "We have better things to  
do than play with children."

"Don't you mean getting beat by children?" Ash taunted as the couple  
walked out of the arcade.

"We're next!" another couple said, charging up to the game.

"We were first!" still another couple said, trying to get at the game.

"Maybe we should get out of here," Penny whispered.

"Sounds good to me," Ash agreed and together they walked toward the  
front of the arcade without anyone noticing. "We're announcing our retirement  
from the game as undefeated champions!" Ash called out just before they ran  
away, laughing their heads off.

They ran for a couple minutes before slowing. "That was the best," Ash  
said as they leaned up against the nearest building.

"It certainly was interesting," Penny said. "You can't know how odd it  
was for me to see a battle like that from the outside, even if it was just a  
game."

"I liked the part where we made those two eat their words." As soon as  
Ash said the word "eat" his stomach woke up and made itself known. "Maybe we  
should go get some lunch," he suggested with an embarassed grin.

Penny was about to make some comment about Ash's appetite until her own  
stomach joined into the conversation. "Why not stop at the café we were at  
when you first saw me like this?" she asked, fighting off a blush.

"As good a place as any," he said, taking her hand in his and walking  
off. "Umm," he said after about ten steps, "do you remember where that is?"

Penny looked at him for a long moment before shaking her head. "You'll  
never change, will you?" she asked with a light teasing tone to her voice.  
While Ash tried to stammer out some excuse, she took the initiative and led  
him right to the café, to the same table in fact.

"So why haven't you pointed us in the right direction before?" Ash  
asked when he held out her seat for her.

"I have to be somewhere before I can find my way back to it," she said  
simply. "And in my other form, it's not exactly easy to read a map."

Ash nodded quietly, then tried to catch a waiter's attention. After  
they'd both given their orders, they sat quietly in their own thoughts.   
"What should we do next?" Ash asked to fill the silence.

"We seem to be asking that a lot today," Penny tried to joke, but it  
came out sounding flat.

"Are you sure there's nothing you want to do?" he asked again. When  
Penny just shrugged, Ash let out a harsh sigh. "What's up with you today?  
You've never acted like this."

"Acted like what?" Penny asked, twisting the napkin in her lap.

"Like this," Ash said, gesturing with his hands as if that would make  
his meaning easier to understand. "For as long as I've known you, you've had  
an opinion on everything, and you've never been shy about letting me know it.   
So what's changed?"

"You mean other than my form?" Penny asked with a smile that quickly  
faded. When Ash opened his mouth, she quickly continued. "I mean it Ash.  
This is all so new for me. Travelling, battling...that I can handle. But  
this?"

"You weren't like this before," Ash pointed out. "When Misty was around  
you were every bit as loud and forceful as she was."

Penny placed her nearly unrecognizable napkin back on her lap and looked  
Ash right in his eyes. "Ash, when Misty's around I try to act how she's  
acting, just to hide my nervousness at being human. But this is the real me  
Ash, the me who's afraid that if you get to know the real me, you might not  
like me anymore."

Ash took in a deep breath and let it out slow. "Penny," he began, then  
added in a low voice, "Pikachu." At that, she looked up. "Look, I don't want  
you to be anything you're not. Remember what Misty said? A date is about  
getting to know each other. I know you for being my friend, but how am I  
supposed to get to know you as a girlfriend if you won't be yourself?"

Penny thought about that as their food was delivered. She had opted for  
an apple-based salad, with actual salad dressing this time. Ash, surprisingly  
enough, had only ordered a half-rack of ribs. Penny couldn't help but laugh  
as Ash tried to eat calmly. "If I have to act like myself then so do you."  
Ash actually blushed at having got caught, but then just shrugged and dug in  
like normal.

The tension that had existed in some fashion since the beginning of the  
date seemed to finally evaporate and they were able to talk freely. But  
despite that, Ash still couldn't get Penny to admit to anything she wanted to  
do. No matter how he tried to word it, she managed to avoid giving him any  
hints.

Just as Ash was about to give up and pay for the food when Penny reached  
over and lightly ran her finger down his cheek. "Umm, you had some sauce  
there," she explained quickly, licking the sauce from her finger before  
putting her hand back in her lap.

Ash stared openmouthed at her before hurrying off to pay the bill. For  
some reason, both the touch of her finger on his cheek and what she did after  
that had sent shivers and tingles through his entire body. But what made it  
even worse was the fact that he knew it couldn't have been deliberate. Penny  
was still an innocent, and that made what she did appeal to him even more.

Ash let himself calm down before going to get Penny and leaving the  
café. They walked around as they had earlier, trying to find something that  
caught their interest. However, this time Ash was watching Penny carefully.   
He knew that she wouldn't just tell him what she wanted to do, so he hoped to  
figure something out from her face or body language.

It wasn't very long before his hopes were fulfilled. As they passed by  
a row of shops, Ash noticed that Penny's gait faltered slightly as her eyes  
locked onto a sign. He quickly turned his head to look at what she'd seen.  
"Fortune telling?" he asked as he read the sign. "You want to go in there?"

"I guess not," Penny started to say, but Ash pulled her through the door  
anyway. "We don't have to come in here if you don't want to."

"No, but it's a good thing you did," a soft yet haunting voice said from  
behind a curtain. Ash and Penny both jumped as the curtain was pulled aside  
by an unseen hand. "Please come in, both of you."

Penny gripped Ash's hand tightly as they moved past the curtain, jumping  
again when it fell back to its normal state. "Who's there?" she called,  
trying to keep her voice from quavering.

A spotlight shone down from the ceiling and illuminated a young woman of  
perhaps eighteen years sitting at a small round table. She was covered in  
veils and scarves from her head to her feet of various colors and sizes.   
Though the only parts of her that were visible were her eyes and her lips, the  
scarves did nothing to hide her lithe form. Her eyes were large and  
expressive, and perhaps the most brilliant shade of purple either one had ever  
seen. Her red lips were slightly twisted to the side in a knowing smirk.   
"Come, sit down," she said, gesturing to two empty chairs across the table  
from her. "Do not be alarmed; the theatrics are all to simply add to the  
atmosphere...and to draw in the occasional tourist. I assure you, I am quite  
good at what I do."

"Can you prove it?" Ash asked skeptically, letting Penny sit down  
before sitting at her side. 

"Of course I can Ash," the woman said, making Ash jump. "Don't be so  
surprised. You have more fame than you realize, especially in my hometown of  
Saffron City."

"Saffron?" Ash asked. "Hey wait, isn't that--"

"Where you defeated Sabrina for your Marsh Badge? Yes. And it is also  
where you set Mistress Sabrina free of her darker half."

"Are you a student of hers then?" Penny asked, intrigued by this piece  
of news.

"Indeed I am Penny, or perhaps I should call you Pikachu?" At Penny's  
shocked reaction, the woman laughed lightly. "That I did see using my powers,  
in case you were wondering. Would you like me to look into your futures? I  
won't even charge you, out of respect for what you did for my teacher."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Ash and Penny said at the same time.

"Then allow me to begin." The woman brought out a small crystal ball  
from within one of her veils and set it on the table. She stared into the  
smoky crystal for a long moment, long enough to make Ash think she had fallen  
asleep with her eyes open. "I see great things in your futures," she said  
finally. "And yet, I cannot tell which of you shall accomplish something  
greater than the other. 

"For you young Ash, I see great hardships that will try to keep you from  
your dreams. You do not now have the abilities to overcome them, but you have  
what you need inside you; you just need to find the way to unlock them. But  
yet, when all the dust has settled, your destiny will overshadow your dreams.

"And you Penny," she began, but then her breath caught in her throat.  
Her large eyes widened as she became privy to something that only she could  
see. Suddenly, her head was thrown back as if she'd been struck, the scarves  
flung from her head to land on the floor.

Ash bolted out of his chair, sprinting to her side before she could  
fall. "Are you all right?" he asked, steadying her chair and her head until  
she found her balance. Some part of him realized just how beautiful the young  
woman truly was, but he would not be aware of it until much later.

"I'm all right," she said, brushing her long lavendar colored hair  
behind her ears. "I was just unprepared for what was revealed to me."

"What did you see?" Penny asked as Ash sat back down next to her.

The psychic shook her head as she stared at Penny. "I'm sorry, but I  
cannot reveal my Vision to you," she said slowly. "There are just some things  
that are not meant to be known. I'm sorry," she continued as she saw Penny  
about to protest, "but I must insist on this."

"Is there nothing you can tell me?" Penny pleaded. 

The woman pondered things for a little bit before letting out a soft  
sigh. "All I can tell you is this: where one journey ends, another shall  
begin, and this shall happen for you more than once. Please, ask me no more."

"OK," Penny said uncertainly. "I guess we should be going now."

"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Ash asked as he stood and  
helped Penny up. 

"As big a heart as Sabrina said," the woman muttered before waving Ash  
off. "I'll be fine, but I think I should close up shop for the rest of the  
day."

"Sorry we caused you so much trouble," Penny said, pausing a little as  
she realized something. "We never did get your name, did we?"

The woman smiled tiredly as she picked up the scarves from the floor.   
"You may call me Sanae," she said, standing on wobbly legs, but able to leave  
the table and disappear into the back of the shop.

"That was an unusual experience," Ash said as they emerged into the late  
afternoon sunshine. 

"It was kinda creepy if you ask me," Penny said as they walked down the  
street. "Nothing like the tower back in Lavendar Town, but scary all the  
same."

"I wonder what it all meant though. Well, I make my own future, and  
there's no way I'll let anything stop me from reaching my dreams!"

"There's no way we'll let anything stop you," Penny said, slipping her  
hand into his and giving his fingers a little squeeze. Ash smiled at her  
which she returned easily. 

What remained of the date was spent in much the same way though Ash  
didn't notice anything that caught Penny's interest. As the sun began to drop  
toward the watery horizon, it found them sitting on a sparsely populated  
beach. "This has been the best day ever," Penny said, trailing her fingers  
through the sand she sat on.

"It's certainly one of them," Ash agreed, stretching his arms above his  
head and falling back to lay on the still-warm sand. 

Penny turned to look at him with one eyebrow arched. "Just one of  
them?" she asked as she lay on her side next to him.

"Well, yeah. The best day of my life is the day I got my trainer's  
license."

"I should've known."

Ash chuckled at the exasperated look that Penny was giving him. "After  
all," he said after a beat, "that's the day I met the two most important women  
in my life."

Penny didn't even try to hide the blush that stained her cheeks this  
time. "Flatterer," she whispered, scooting over to lay her head on his chest,  
listening to his heartbeat. She stretched her arm across his stomach and  
hugged herself closer to him.

Ash brought his hand up to rest on her hair that fell out from under her  
cap and began idly running his fingers through it. After a few moments, he  
felt Penny's breathing slow and even out. "Penny?" he asked, lifting his  
head up to look at her. When all that answered him was a soft snore, he  
realized she'd fallen asleep. A quiet smile crossed his lips and he closed  
his eyes as well. 

"Excuse me!" a voice called, startling both Ash and Penny from their  
light slumber.

"Hmm?" Penny asked through a yawn, sitting up and stretching as Ash did  
the same.

"Sorry to wake you," a teenage boy with sandy brown hair said as he  
squatted down near them, "but I was wondering if I could take your picture?"

"Our picture?" Ash asked, still not clearly awake. When he noticed  
the instant camera in his hands, everything started to make sense. "Oh sure,  
I guess it's ok. But why us?"

"My dad owns a photography studio on the island, and I want to prove to  
him I have what it takes to work there," the boy explained. "Since we always  
get tourist couples who want their picture taken, I've been scouring the beach  
for couples that will let me take their picture for free. And the two of you  
look like a great couple to photograph."

"I don't see why not," Ash said as he and Penny both sat up. "It is for  
free after all."

"Great," the boy said, standing up from his squat. "By the way, I'm  
Jason."

"I'm Penny," Penny said. "And this here is Ash."

"Pleased to meet you. Do you think you could both stand by the water  
line? I'd like to have the sunset in the background."

Ash looked over at the horizon and saw that the sun had just started to  
disappear under the water. "We must've slept longer than I thought," he  
realized, getting to his feet and helping Penny up to hers. They walked over  
to where the water lapped up against the shore and turned to face the boy as  
he set up his camera. "Umm, how should we pose for this?"

"Whatever feels natural," Jason said, brushing some of his greenish hair  
away from his face. "Just relax and forget all about me."

Penny slipped one of her arms around his waist and leaned her head on  
his shoulder. Ash smiled slightly and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.  
They were waiting for the boy to take the picture when a clap of thunder  
startled them. They turned to look over the water and saw a small cluster of  
dark clouds hanging low over the ocean but not close enough to be a threat.

They looked away after a moment to look back at the camera, but when  
their gazes met they locked. For a long moment, neither was able to look away  
from the other. But as happens with all moments like this, two things  
happened to ruin it. The first was a particularly close bolt of lightning.   
The second was the sounds of a camera taking two pictures in quick succession.  
"Perfect," Jason said, lowering his camera and pulling the two pictures that  
emerged from it.

"Umm, huh?" Ash asked, confused both by what had just happened and what  
was happening.

"Yeah, what he said," Penny said, blinking her eyes dazedly.

"Hey, you guys want your picture?" Jason asked, waving it as he walked  
over to them.

"Yeah sure," Penny said, taking the picture from him and watching it as  
it began to develop. 

"Hey, where'd that storm go?" Ash asked, looking up at the suddenly  
clear sky.

"Don't worry about that," Jason said quickly, putting the other picture  
in his pocket. "I just hope you like how the picture came out."

Ash looked over Penny's shoulder as the picture came into focus. It was  
taken at the exact moment when the lightning illuminated their faces but while  
they were still gazing into each other's eyes. If there was one word that  
described the picture, it was 'magical.' "Wow," Penny breathed, bringing the  
picture up to hug against her chest. "I'll treasure this picture forever."

"So where's mine?" Ash asked as Penny put the picture away.

"Oh, this one's not yours," Jason said. "I have to show my dad this  
one, remember? And if he likes it enough, it'll go up on the board for  
everyone to see."

"Everyone?"

"Are you ok with that? I mean, I'd think you'd want to show off your  
girlfriend."

"Well, I'm not really his girlfriend," Penny admitted softly. "Well,  
not yet anyway."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"There's another girl he likes. She's going out with him tomorrow to  
try and figure out who he wants to be with."

Jason nodded in realization. "She must really be some girl if he's even  
considering her next to you."

Penny blushed suddenly and turned away as Ash's expression hardened.  
"Thanks for the picture," he ground out. 

"Anytime," Jason said, walking away. "But hey, maybe I'll see this girl  
for myself tomorrow if you want another picture taken."

Penny waved to him but then noticed that Ash wasn't. "What's wrong?"

"You mean you didn't notice how he was flirting with you?" Ash asked,  
turning away to watch the last of the sunset. 

Penny walked up to Ash and gently took his hand in hers. "You don't  
have to be jealous Ash. No one can measure up to you."

Ash felt a smile tug at his lips as he calmed down. They stood there  
watching as the sun completely set, enjoying the view and the peace, not  
moving until the western sky had darkened to a crimson red. Once Penny  
shivered in the rapidly cooling air, they decided to return to hotel, albeit  
more than a touch reluctantly.

They reached the hotel before the sky had darkened enough to let the  
stars shine through. "Thanks for a wonderful date," Penny said as they waited  
for the elevator. "This is a night I'll remember for the rest of my life."

"So will I," Ash agreed. "I almost wish it didn't have to end."

"That makes two of us." Penny wanted to say something as they walked  
into the elevator, but suddenly turned shy. "Never mind," she said when she  
caught Ash's questioning glance. 

Ash just shrugged and watched as the numbers in the elevator steadily  
climbed. But he could see Penny squirm a little out of the corner of his eye.  
He had a good idea of what she wanted to ask, but wasn't about to let her off  
the hook without asking for it. 

They were about halfway to the penthouse when Penny broke down. "Can I  
get a kiss Ash?"

"I was just waiting for you to ask," Ash said, leaning in and placing a  
soft kiss on her lips that drew a soft blush from her. He didn't hold it for  
very long, but the emotion in it was undeniable. "I love you," he whispered  
as he gently pulled away for her.

"I love you too," Penny whispered back, reaching up to straighten his  
hat which had gotten knocked a bit askew from their kiss.

The rest of the elevator ride was quiet, but once they reached the  
penthouse it was anything but quiet. "How could you do that?" Suzie  
demanded, stalking away from a very contrite Brock.

Ash and Penny stared at the sight for a moment before they saw Misty  
beckoning to them. "What's going on here?" Ash asked, looking confused.

"Apparently Brock went girl-crazy in front of Suzie," Misty explained.  
"We tried explaining to her that it's a natural reaction for him that he's  
been doing for months, but she won't let us get a word in edgewise. I stopped  
trying, but he's not ready to give up. I don't think I've ever seen him like  
this before."

Ash nodded but said nothing in reply as all three continued to watch the  
scene unfold in front of them. It seemed ready to come to a head and Ash was  
about to step in to try and calm Suzie down when she made a pronouncement that  
stopped him in his tracks. "Well, I suggest you find a way to get over it in  
a hurry if you expect to keep me as your girlfriend."

After Suzie stormed to her room and slammed the door shut, the four who  
were left stood in various states of disbelief. For Brock, that disbelief was  
tempered with hope and determination not to let this chance slip by him. For  
the others, the only other thing they felt was the floor as it rushed up to  
meet their faces. 

It took Suzie about an hour to calm down, and about that long for Ash,  
Penny, and Misty to pick themselves up off the floor. It was only then that  
Misty noticed the cap Penny was wearing and extracted a promise from her to  
exchange all the details from their dates after she returned tomorrow. In  
that time, Brock had used the penthouse's kitchen to whip up a wonderful meal  
as an apology to Suzie. Though she maintained that she wouldn't be swayed so  
easily, everyone could see she was fighting to keep a smile off her lips. And  
by the end of the meal, she'd lost that fight.

The next morning came sooner than Ash expected. No sooner had he closed  
his eyes to go to sleep than he was rudely awakened by a pillow whomping him  
in the face. "Whaa?" he yelled, falling out of bed and dragging the sheets  
with him. 

"Time to wake up!" Misty said in an overly cheerful voice, the pillow  
she had just hit him with held in front of her like a shield in case Ash had  
any ideas of retaliation. "We've got a big day ahead of us."

"Misty!" Ash yelled, sitting up but keeping the sheet covering his  
boxers. "Is the sun even up yet?"

"Not for another half hour. But if we want the prime beach spot, we  
have to be there before everyone else."

"What are you talking about?" Ash wondered, rubbing his eyes as he  
tried to keep them open. 

Misty's smile dissolved into a glower. "Don't tell me you've forgotten  
about our date today!"

"Of course I haven't. I just figured we were going to wait until after  
breakfast or something."

"Nope, so get dressed," Misty said, tossing him his cap. "And don't  
worry about your stomach; I've got it all covered."

"Fine, fine," Ash muttered, pulling his blanket over his head with every  
intention of going back to sleep for a couple hours.

"Could you two keep it down please?" Brock asked, not even lifting his  
head up.

"Ash," Misty whispered sweetly as she walked over, "if you don't get up  
right now, I will pull that blanket off you and drag you outside by your feet.  
Do you understand me?"

"You wouldn't dare," Ash said confidently. He found out just how wrong  
he was a moment later when he found himself dragged through the suite's main  
room by his feet in nothing but his boxers. "Let me go!" he yelled though he  
couldn't stop laughing. 

"Are you up?" Misty asked as she dragged him by the couch, completely  
ignoring the fact that her face was as red as her hair.

"Yes I'm up!" Ash said, grabbing a sofa cushion to cover himself.   
"Come on, let me go!"

"What's going on out here?" Suzie asked as she stuck her head out of  
her bedroom door. Her eyes were still half-closed and her hair was frizzed  
out all over the place.

"Oh nothing," Misty said, dropping Ash's foot and walking back to her  
room. "Oh and Ash," she said just before she disappeared inside, if you're  
not ready to go in an half hour, I'll dress you myself. Don't forget to wear  
your swim trunks either." Suzie tried to figure out what was going on for all  
of a minute before just filing it away for when she was more awake and went  
back to bed.

Ash scooted back to his room and closed the door behind him. "Well, at  
least I don't have to worry about what she wants to do," he thought, forcing  
away thoughts of sleep to get dressed because he knew that Misty wasn't  
kidding. And per her orders, he left his jeans behind and wore his swim  
trunks instead.

A half hour later, Ash and Misty were walking down a mostly deserted  
street to a completely deserted beach. Ash was carrying a beach blanket, a  
beach chair, and a sun umbrella, but not struggling under the weight really.   
But that might be because he wasn't carrying everything; Misty herself was  
carrying a beach chair and a large basket. "When did you have the time to get  
that together?" Ash asked as they stepped onto the still cool sand.

"Why do you think I wanted an extra day?" Misty asked as if it were the  
most obvious thing in the world. She looked around the beach in the predawn  
light, staring critically at a few spots before pointing to one with a smile.   
"Let's set up right there."

Ash just shrugged and followed Misty to the stretch of sand she'd  
chosen. "What's so great about here?" he wondered aloud as Misty placed the  
basket in his arms and took the blanket from him.

"I grew up around the water Ash," Misty said, sounding a bit wistful as  
she laid the blanket out. "One of the few things I remember of my parents is  
them teaching me was how to select the best beach spot. It's one of the few  
things I was always better than my sisters at."

"I don't think I've ever heard you talk about your parents before," Ash  
said as he put what he was holding down and set up the beach chairs on either  
side of the blanket.

Misty grew very quiet for a moment. "It's not something I like to talk  
about," she whispered, sitting down on the blanket and pulling the basket onto  
her lap. "Maybe one day I'll tell you about them."

"Only if you want to," Ash said quickly, stabbing the umbrella into the  
sand behind the blanket and making sure it was tilted toward the east.

Misty brushed her hand across her eyes and smiled at Ash as he sat down  
next to her. "Are you hungry?" she asked, opening up the basket and looking  
inside.

"When am I not?" Ash asked in return, drawing a genuine giggle from  
Misty. She pulled out a handful of hard boiled eggs, two containers of rice,  
and a couple pair of chopsticks. "Wow, looks good," he said, accepting the  
food she held out toward him.

"It should," Misty said, opening up one of the containers for herself.  
"I had Brock help me with it last night when you went to bed."

"Why didn't you just have him make it?" Ash asked before stuffing an  
entire egg into his mouth.

Ordinarily, Misty would have been disgusted by Ash's eating habits. But  
because he was eating her food today, it made her feel warm inside. "To be  
honest I asked him to and he said no. He said that it was better for me to  
make it and that it would turn out better than what he could do because..."

"Because..." Ash prompted when Misty stopped.

Misty faced Ash as the sun just peeked above the horizon, the warm light  
reflecting off her eyes and touching her blushing cheeks. "Because of the  
love I'd put into it," she finished in a soft whisper.

Ash paused in his eating, Misty's words making his stomach do a quick  
flip-flop. "Well it tastes wonderful," he said, looking down at his food to  
try and hide the blush that was on his face.

Breakfast was finished quickly after that without much conversation.  
After the food was gone and they'd put everything away, they both stretched  
out on the blanket and enjoyed the rising sun as the warmed their faces and  
chased away the lingering chill in the air. Once the sun was high enough for  
the umbrella to start shading them from it, Misty stood up and stretched.   
"I'm going for a swim," she announced. "Coming?"

"Shouldn't we wait for the water to warm up a bit?" he asked, sitting  
up on his elbows.

"Nah, it's always the best when it's this cold," Misty said, shrugging  
off her suspenders and kicking off her sneakers and socks.

Ash was about to joke with Misty about swimming in her clothes until he  
saw her slipping off her shorts. Underneath her shorts was the bottom half of  
a two piece bathing suit the exact same color as her eyes. It was tied high  
on her hips which left her long legs fully bare. When her shirt joined her  
shorts on the blanket, Ash could see the top half of her bikini and his mouth  
went dry. While it covered enough to be considered decent, it clung to every  
single curve it covered. Ash couldn't help but look her up and down, silently  
thanking the day she had come into his life enough to outweigh every time he  
had ever cursed it.

Misty stretched her arms above her head when she caught Ash staring.  
"Like what you see?" she asked, turning around fully for his benefit.

"More than you know," Ash breathed before he could catch himself. He  
jumped to his feet and threw off his shirt, sneakers, socks, and hat. "Race  
you in!" he called even though he had already broken into a run. Misty  
glared at him just for a second before charging after him and tackling him  
into the surf. 

Ash wriggled free of Misty's grasp and stood up quickly, gasping for air  
when he broke the surface. "It's cold!" he yelped, wrapping his arms around  
his body in an attempt to warm himself up.

Misty just laughed from next to him. "Isn't it great? There's nothing  
that makes me feel more alive than diving into cold water in the morning.   
Come on Ash! Try to catch me!"

Ash looked at her like she was crazy when she dived headfirst into  
a wave. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he thought as he dived in after  
her. He had to admit though, chasing her through the water was hard work and  
a lot of fun. So much so that he soon forgot all about the cold.

Once Ash caught Misty, even though they disagreed about whether or not  
Misty had let him catch her, the two teens played together in the water for  
the next hour or so. They had a splash war that Misty undeniably won, a race  
that Ash won only because of the head start Misty gave him, and Misty even  
taught Ash to float like a tentacool.

The real fun began after that though when Misty locked her arms around  
Ash from behind and dunked him. Ash came up spluttering and spitting out a  
mouthful of water, much to Misty's enjoyment. Revenge on his mind, Ash swam  
after her quickly retreating form. But no matter how hard he tried, she  
always managed to stay just out of reach. She even was able to dunk him a few  
times when he lunged for her!

Misty laughed loud and clear after the fifth time she dunked Ash. "Face  
it Ash," she said, wiping some water from her eyes, "there's no way you're  
going to get me so you might as well stop trying." When she didn't hear the  
smart remark from him that she was expecting she turned around to look for  
him. "Hey Ash, where are you?" she called, looking around at all the other  
swimmers.

A cold knot of fear grew in her stomach when she couldn't find him. "Oh  
no," she whispered, thoughts of riptides carrying Ash out to open water  
running wild through her mind. "Ash!" she yelled, cupping her hands around  
her mouth to make her voice carry farther. She took a deep breath to call his  
name again when she felt two hands grab her ankles. She barely stifled a  
squeal of surprise before she was pulled under.

The hands let go of her ankles almost as soon as her head was completely  
submerged. Misty whirled around and came face to face with a smirking Ash who  
was waving at her. Angrily, she kicked upward and broke the surface just as  
he did. "What's the big idea?" she demanded as Ash started laughing.

"I tried every other way I know to dunk you," he said, laughing so hard  
he was having trouble treading water. "That was my only chance left."

"You big jerk! Do you have any idea how worried I was over you? I  
thought you were drowning or something. Just wait until I get you back for  
that."

Ash's laughter subsided almost immediately. "Calm down Misty," he said,  
putting his hands on her arm. "I didn't mean anything by it." Misty shrugged  
off his hands and stroked her way toward shore, stomping toward their beach  
spot as soon as her feet touched the sand. "Can't you take a joke?" he  
yelled after her retreating form.

Misty threw herself down in one of the beach chairs and grabbed a pair  
of sunglasses from the basket. She pushed aside the umbrella so that she  
could lie in the sun closed her eyes after putting on the sunglasses,  
ignoring Ash's attempts to reason with her.

Ash sighed heavily and lay down on the blanket next to Misty's chair.  
He just couldn't understand why she was so upset. But in looking at her  
profile, it was obvious just how tense she was. It worried him that she'd  
promised revenge for his little prank, but it bothered him more that he had  
upset her. 

The tension between them grew as Misty turned on her side to face away  
from him. It soon reached the breaking point and Ash exploded with a scream  
that startled some nearby beachgoers. "I can't take it anymore!" he yelled,  
pulling at his hair. "I'm sorry! What more do you want me to say? Whatever  
you're gonna do to me, do it already!"

Misty slowly sat up and turned to face him, a smirk playing on her lips.  
"Oh, I'm not going to do anything to you Ash," she said. "Just driving you  
crazy thinking that I was is enough payback for me."

Ash's face fell as he realized the trap he had blindly walked into. A  
million comebacks raced to be the first out of his mouth, but he stubbornly  
kept his mouth shut. "I deserved that," he said finally. "But no more of  
that, all right?" 

"Fine by me," Misty agreed. "Now then, feel like some lunch?"

Lunch was a much happier affair, and just as good if not a bit better  
than breakfast. After they cleaned up they started to pack up; as much as  
Misty would've loved to spend the entire day on the beach, she had other  
things planned. A quick stop by the hotel to drop off their beach gear and  
they were on their way to other places.

"Why don't we try scuba diving next?" Misty suggested as they walked  
through the lobby of the hotel.

Ash considered it for a moment before shaking his head. "I think I've  
had enough of the water today."

Misty looked disappointed at that for a moment, but she covered it  
before Ash could notice. "While I don't understand how anyone could ever have  
enough of the water," she said, "I did think this might happen. There are a  
couple of things that I think you might like."

"I don't know," Ash said, shielding his eyes from the bright sunshine as  
they left the lobby. "Penny and I walked around a lot yesterday and we didn't  
see that much."

Misty pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and studied it. "Well,  
there's a street fair that's opening today," she said after looking at it a  
moment.

"Really? I haven't been to one of those since I started my journey.  
Where is it?" 

"If I remember right, it's set up near the gym." She grabbed his hand  
and pulled him along as she walked toward the area.

By the time they got there, the fair was in full swing. There were  
booths with food from every area of the world, and Ash was more than happy to  
sample each and every one. On the other side of the gym were the games and  
rides, and Misty dragged Ash to each and every one. He was reluctant to go  
at first, but by the third or so time he was dragging her along just as  
eagerly. 

As they started to make their second trip around the rides, Ash saw  
something at a booth that made him stop. "Hey Misty," he said, making her  
stop as well, "let's try that one."

Misty looked over at the booth and frowned. It was a classic ball  
throw game where you had to knock three bottles, one stacked on top of the  
other two, off a shelf with a single throw to win. "Come on Ash, you know  
those are rigged," she said, starting to pull him away. "It's almost  
impossible to win at those."

Ash slipped his hand free from hers and marched over to the booth. "I'd  
like to give this a try," he told the booth owner, taking some money from his  
pocket and handing it over.

"Sure thing kid," the man said as he handed over three baseballs. "You  
have to knock all of them off in one shot to win. Not over, off."

Ash didn't like the tone of the man's voice, which clearly said he  
didn't think Ash had a chance. He took aim with the first ball and let it  
fly, but the throw went high, not even touching the top bottle. He frowned  
at the baseballs still in his hands. He didn't notice it before, but they  
seemed bigger than a normal baseball, lighter too. "So that's where they get  
you," he realized, adjusting his grip and aim for the second throw.

That shot bounced off the shelf itself, nearly coming back to hit Ash.  
"Just one more," the guy said, looking out over the crowd to see who else he  
could get money from.

Ash set himself to throw the third ball, but stopped before he could.  
He thought about how he'd thrown the first two times and realized he didn't  
know what kind of adjustment to make on the third. Then a thought occurred to  
him. Adjusting his stance completely, he threw the last ball sidearm instead  
of overhand.

The ball hit the center of the bottles squarely, causing all three to  
fly off the shelf into the backstop. The guy running the booth jumped when he  
heard the bottles fall. "How'd you do that?" he asked, looking at Ash in  
disbelief.

Ash's answer was simply a smile. "I'll take the tentacruel," he said,  
pointing at a stuffed pokémon that was as large as he was. The guy just  
sighed and handed it over. "Thank you. Now what can I win--"

"One prize per customer," the guy said grumpily, pointing at a sign that  
said just that.

"Oh, all right," Ash said, pulling his hand from his pocket. He walked  
over to Misty who had a look of shock on her face. "Here you go," he said,  
depositing the plushie into her arms. 

Misty looked from the plush she held to Ash and back again. "No one's  
ever won anything for me before," she whispered before suddenly jumping into  
his arms and planting a quick peck on his lips.

Ash felt the smile that formed on his lips before it even got there.   
"Well then, let's see what else I can win for you," he said, taking her hand  
and going back to the other games.

It was nearly sunset by the time Ash and Misty walked away from the  
fair. "That was the best," Misty said, holding the stuffed tentacruel Ash had  
won for her in one arm so she could take hold of his hand with her other hand.  
He hadn't been able to win anything else for her, but she didn't mind in the  
least.

"Yeah, I'm glad you heard about it," Ash agreed. "I'm just sorry we  
spent so much time there. I'm sure you had other things you wanted to do."

"Oh don't worry about it," Misty said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.  
"Believe me, if I really wanted to do something today, I would've told you."

"I do believe you." Ash looked around and realized they had walked onto  
one of the island's piers. It was sparsely dotted with other couples, all out  
to enjoy what looked to be a spectacular sunset. "Let's stay out here and  
watch," he suggested.

Misty just nodded and moved to stand in front of him, taking his arms  
and wrapping them around her stomach as she leaned back against him. "This is  
the perfect ending to the perfect day," she whispered. 

"Hey Ash!"

Ash turned his head around to look at who called him and saw Jason  
heading toward them. "Oh, hey Jason," he said, turning around and bringing  
Misty with him. "What are you doing around here?"

"Well, you said you were going to be on another date today, so I've been  
trying to find you all day."

"Another date?" Misty asked. "Oh, so you met Penny?"

Jason nodded and pulled the camera from his backpack. "Yeah, I asked  
them if I could take their picture yesterday so I wanted to see if I could  
take your picture today."

"Sure," Misty said, setting her plush tentacruel off to the side and  
placing her hands on top of Ash's. "How's this?"

"That's great," Jason said, moving around so that he could capture the  
sunset in the background. "Now then, just forget that I'm here and act  
natural."

Ash stood on his tiptoes so he could rest his chin on Misty shoulder.   
Misty looked at him out of the corner of her eye and saw that he had his  
cheeks all puffed out. "Ash!" she scolded, lightly slapping his hands.

"What?" Ash wondered, trying to act innocent. Misty was sure to make  
some comment to his act but they both felt something light hit their heads.  
They looked up to see a gentle rain, almost no more than a mist, falling on  
them. "That's weird," Ash said, as he looked back down at Misty.

As had happened just yesterday with Penny, Ash and Misty locked gazes.  
For the second time in as many days, Ash found himself unable to look away.  
But this was different somehow from what he'd shared with Penny. Then, it  
seemed like he couldn't look away. Now, it was as if he just didn't want to.

Before he could explore that thought any further, two bright flashes of  
light made both him and Misty jerk back slightly. "Wow," Jason said, lowering  
his camera. "I'd say that picture was perfect, but I don't think that would  
quite get the point across."

Misty blinked her eyes rapidly to clear the spots that danced in her  
vision. "Well, you can't be sure of that until you develop them," Misty  
pointed out once she could focus on Jason.

"This is an instant camera," Jason said, taking the two pictures from  
the front of the camera and handing one to her. "We'll know in a minute or  
two, but I'm pretty sure I'm right."

When that minute or two passed and the picture came into focus, Misty  
gasped softly. The gentle rain that had been falling on them, which she just  
now realized had stopped, reflected the rays of the setting sun in such a way  
that it seemed to completely fade out the rest of the world. The picture  
showed only Ash and Misty; nothing else mattered. "I can't believe it," she  
breathed. "This is...this is..."

"Yeah," Ash said, agreeing with Misty's sentiment even though she could  
not give voice to it. "But you know something, that's the second time the  
weather was perfect for your picture. How'd you do that?"

Jason immediately looked nervous, like he'd been caught with his hand in  
the cookie jar. He was about to make some kind of excuse like he'd done  
yesterday when a pokémon's head poked up onto the pier. A soft trill was  
heard as it hurried toward Jason and knocked him down playfully. "Hey now!"  
he said while trying not to laugh. "OK, enough Drair!"

"What kind of pokémon is that?" Ash asked aloud, pulling Dexter out of  
his pocket and pointing it at the pokémon. "Dragonair," Dexter reported, "the  
dragon pokémon. A mystical pokémon that exudes a gentle aura. Has the  
ability to change climate conditions."

"So that's how you do it," Ash said, snapping Dexter closed and putting  
it away. "You use your dragonair to change the weather for your pictures."

"Guilty as charged," Jason said, rubbing his dragonair's head before  
recalling it to its pokéball. "Normally I just use Drair to make sure the  
weather's nice and clear for my pictures. But with these last two, it just  
seemed right to change the weather to something else."

Misty looked at the picture again before putting it away. "Thank you  
for this," she said. "I'll treasure it always."

Jason smiled as he waved and walked off. "Don't be surprised if both  
these pictures end up shown," he called back as he left the pier.

"What did he mean by that?" Misty asked as she picked up her stuffed  
tentacruel in one hand and held Ash's hand in the other.

"I'll tell you about it later," Ash promised as they left the pier,  
casting one last glance over his shoulder as the sun fully sank below the  
horizon.

The walk back to the hotel was filled with a comfortable quiet and more  
than a bit of reluctance. They both knew that once they got back into the  
hotel the date was as good as over, so they were both determined to make the  
walk last for as long as they could. All things must come to an end however,  
and it was far too soon for the both of them when the hotel loomed into view.  
"I guess this is it, huh?" Misty asked as they walked through the hotel  
lobby.

"Looks that way," Ash said, pushing the button for the elevator. "I  
hope you enjoyed yourself today."

"Do you even have to ask? Bar none, this is the best day of my life."

"Well, it's one of the best of mine too."

"Only one of them?" Misty asked, a hint of hardness finding its way  
into her voice.

Ash chuckled under his breath as he gave the same answer he'd given to  
Penny last night. "Well, yeah. The best day of my life is the day I got my  
trainer's license. After all, that's the day I met the two most important  
women in my life."

Misty stared at Ash as they walked into the elevator, her happiness  
lighting up her face and especially her eyes as they glimmered with tears. No  
sooner had the doors closed behind them then she fairly launched herself into  
Ash's arms, fastening her lips to his in a kiss that expressed every single  
emotion that was pent up in her heart. 

Ash just stood there for a second, his mind completely blown by the kiss  
he was getting from Misty. Then the rest of him took over, wrapping his arms  
around her and kissing her back with just as much emotion as she was giving.  
Their kiss lasted until they'd almost reached the penthouse, with Misty being  
the one to back away, although she did so only enough for their lips to part.  
"I love you," she whispered against his lips before placing another quick kiss  
against them.

"I love you too," Ash said, a little dazed from the kiss but meaning  
every word. 

Soon after leaving the elevator, Misty and Penny disappeared into the  
room they shared, most likely to talk about their dates. Ash, who for one of  
the first times he could remember wasn't feeling very hungry, decided to turn  
in for the night. Brock and Suzie were both worried about him, but Brock knew  
better than to push him so they let him be alone to sleep.

Unfortunately for Ash, sleep was a long time in coming. His thoughts  
were full of the two young ladies in his life the he was in love with. Misty  
said that dating was supposed to help someone figure out who they wanted to be  
with, but these dates only further confused the issue. No matter how much he  
thought about it, the problem just seemed to grow more complex by the minute.  
"How did I end up in this?" he wondered. But the very next thought, the last  
one before he finally fell asleep, summed up his feelings in the only way  
possible. "But I wouldn't trade it for the world."  



End file.
